Salman Rushdie: A selection of works

"Quichotte" revisits Cervantes' classic, modernizing Don Quixote's quest by setting it in modern-day USA and following the quest of an aging traveling salesman. Racism, opioids and trash TV are part of the fable — as well as a number of surreal elements, from talking guns to shape-shifting humans. The novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize 2019.

Rushdie's first novel, "Grimus," was overlooked when it came out in 1975. It's the British Indian author's second work that turned him into a literary star. "Midnight's Children," an allegory on India's independence, won the 1981 Booker Prize. It was also recognized twice as the "Best of the Bookers" — the public's favorite novel among all Booker winners for the prize's 25th and 40th anniversary.

Rushdie's name nevertheless remains most strongly associated with his fourth novel, "The Satanic Verses." Muslims felt that the controversial book mocked their faith; Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, then Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a fatwa calling for Rushdie's assassination. Even though the author came out of hiding after nine years, the now deceased Ayatollah's ruling still stands.

Post-colonial culture and magical realism are Rushdie's trademarks, as well as countless references to world events, literature and pop culture, which he builds into works as diverse as "The Moor's Last Sigh" (1995), a family saga tackling a century of Indian history, or "The Ground Beneath Her Feet," an alternative history of modern rock music. A U2 song uses the title and lyrics from that book.

Rushdie has also written two children's books. His fifth novel after "The Satanic Verses" — and the fatwa issued against him — was "Haroun and the Sea of Stories" (1990), an allegory on censorship and freedom of speech. Rushdie later wrote a sequel, "Luka and the Fire of Life," with his 13-year-old son in mind.

Joseph Anton, chosen in tribute to writers Joseph Conrad and Anton Chekhov, was the pseudonym used by Rushdie while he was living underground. Written in the third person, Rushdie's autobiographical book covers the nine years he spent in hiding because of the fatwa. During that period, he divorced from his second wife and went through two more marriages that both ended after a few years.

The number of days in the title of this book add up to refer to Scheherazade's tales of 1,001 Nights — and Rushdie's novel offers a plethora of stories as well. The year the book came out, the Frankfurt Book Fair invited him as a keynote speaker. Iran decided to boycott the event because of his participation.

Rushdie is also the author of works of non-fiction, collected in books such as "Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticism, 1981–1991" (1992). In the picture above, he shows "Home," a 2017 book from the Vintage Minis series. An exploration of the concept of identity, it collects some of those essays, as well as excepts from his novel "Shame" (1983) and from his story anthology "East, West" (1994).